Recent declines in productivity growth in the mining sector: causes and consequences

Research Project

Background

There has been intense interest in why Australia's productivity growth has slowed in the 2000s, after the record highs of the 1990s. The decline in mining productivity has been put forward as a contributing explanation. Various reasons have been suggested- compositional shifts within the sector, rapid investment in additional capacity which is yet to come on stream, and expansion based on less-productive workers and mines. However, the respective contributions of these possible explanations are not well understood.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the project is to identify the causes and consequences of the recent decline in mining sector productivity, and explain the significance of the developments for the sector and for the economy overall.